The End

Well this is my last blog post for the year and I'm not really sure what all to say. It's been a good class and I've enjoyed my cohort a lot. We all got along and never had any problems. I could not have asked for a better group.

Blogging has not been something that I liked about this class. I've never liked the idea of blogging and never thought that I would, and am glad that after this I will not have to blog again. I think the reason I don't like it is because whenever I think of a blog I think of the ones you hear about on TV where some random person has become famous by talking about famous people. I do know that those are not the only kinds of blogs but they are the only ones I hear about. Having to blog has not changed how I feel about it either. If given the choice I would choose not to blog. For the purpose of the class however I thought it was a new and interesting way of making us approach public argument.

Now that school is over for the semester I'm somewhat looking forward to the summer. I have a job doing grounds keeping work here on campus which will be nice, but I will have to start work at 7am. This is going to be rough for me because during this last semester the earliest I had to wake up was for an 11am class and a 955am class once a week. So if your sticking around Madison this summer I may see you, chances are though you will see me and I won't notice you.

Working 40 hours a week will be nice because I had an exam Monday and my last one is on Friday and I am already getting bored of not having anything to do. The only problem with working will be that it is going to cut into my valuable fishing time. Luckily I only work until 3:30 so I'll still have the weeknights and weekends to fish. So far my roommates and I have not been able to catch very many fish worth keeping but I'm hoping that as the summer goes on the fish will get bigger and be worth the time and effort to clean. When I say clean I'm talking about filleting them, taking the meat off the fish and cooking it.

I'm going to try and take a trip out to Yellowstone Park sometime this summer with my girlfriend, as well as going to Arizona to visit her grandparents. I've never been to Yellowstone Park and I plan on driving out there which I think will be a lot of fun. I know it is a long drive but there are a few places along the way that look like fun to stop at such as Deadwood. I'm a big fan of Westerns and cowboys and anything related to them so I know I will enjoy it, not so sure about my girlfriend though.

After I first posted this I realized that for my nickname I selected the name "Burns" and never explained why. The reason is because in high school I had very large sideburns and it was a nickname that followed me through high school and some people still call me that today. Just thought I would explain that and if your interested in great men in history with sideburns i suggest you look up General Ambrose Burnside.

Well I'm starting to just ramble on about my summer plans and can't really think of anything else to say. This class has been fun and I have enjoyed it and to end on a happy note here is a link to something I did over winter break before coming to this class, hope you enjoy it. http://gazettextra.com/photos/galleries/southern-wisconsin-snow-2008/3134/

The Sum

So in week 2, I missed a post for a variety of reasons. For one, I had to go home for a family matter, but the other was really why I didn't post. It was because I was without a group. I was like a lost little boy. Call me Oliver or Stuart Little. Either way you look at it, I was groupless. And yes, I did just make up a word.

But by the end of the week, I was placed with another group, and I had no idea what to expect. First there was Matt. A loud, talkative kid from New York who really epitomized what the term "coastie" means. It is funny because I hate kids who give people like me, people from the "coast", a bad name but all I really needed was a little time to understand who Matt was. Next, there was Jake. Jake was not the most talkative person but when he did say something, I knew that what he was saying was important to him. He was exactly what I expected of him.  A humble intelligent kid who was absolutely a positive in the group. And lastly, there was Courtney. Courtney was really the wild card in the group, even though she was one of the founding members of the group. She was the only female of the group and I really worried that she might be a little timid during group discussions. And like many other times, I was dead wrong. Courtney was personable, smart, witty, and my partner in crime when it came time to make fun of Matt. All in all, the group dynamic was great and I knew great things were on the horizon.

I think my favorite moment with the group, and they would probably agree, was when we were first coming up with our ideas for what we wanted our project to be on. While it was not the most coherent or official meeting, we all were springing our creativity, for better or worse that is. Our project idea started off as us playing drinking games on camera in order to teach kids how to have fun in college. Looking back on that idea now, its a miracle that it even came across our minds because Christine shot it down like Kobe on a buzzer beater. So we go even more creative. We put all jokes aside...kinda, and got down to business. After a few revisions, we finally landed on our idea of responsible drinking and the rest was history.

Our sessions together in library, although long, were really enjoyable, and it seemed like none of us ever wanted to go home. Now that may be because Matt lives in the dorms and Courtney lived a little far away, but I like to think it was because of how much we enjoyed each others company on both a social and work level. We had fun and were also effective. We joked around, but when it was time, we got down to work and it was really remarkable when we came up with our idea to do radio ads as our group project. The best part about the idea was that nobody can take full credit for the idea, because everyone came up with it. We thought about how we should take advantage of new media forms and believe it or not, the radio is the most watched/listen to media on the planet behind TV. From there, we all took our different writing and vocal skills and recorded it, all with the support of one another. No matter what grade we receive, I know I speak for everyone when I say that we are proud of what we handed in.

I think the only sad part is that we may never see each other again. This is a school of 40,000 people, and one of our group members is leaving. I will be senior and graduate, and then eventually Jake will graduate, and then it will be left to Matt. As depressing as it sounds, I prefer to have enjoyed and lost, then to have never had at all. This group gave me great memories, great learning tools, and great friends, regardless of if we ever see each other again. I hope that like me, everyone else in the group thinks about this, and at some point in their life, draws on a memory from a cohort meeting to accomplish something great in their life.

Pardon me while I reminisce :)

Well, needless to say, I have been feeling rather sentimental with my graduation quickly approaching this Saturday, so I ask for you forgiveness in advance as I enter a world of reminiscing. It’s rather funny because this blog is actually the first time I have taken to sit down and think about what will be happening five days from now, and I can’t tell you how many memories ran through my head before I snapped back to reality and remembered that I was supposed to be blogging. Of course I am excited to be graduating, but there is of course, a part of me that does not want to either.

I am truly awed by the gigantic heap of knowledge that I have somehow managed to jam into my brain over the past few years. I have also realized that after numerous years of science courses I have not only earned a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Sciences and Biology but a degree in science geekiness. The world of science excites me greatly and I continue to enjoy learning anything and everything about it. I have also discovered the world of research while attending this university. Before I came here, I had no idea the vast world that research entailed and how easily it was to get involved. After I leave here though, I will have lent a helping hand in three cutting-edge research labs with a new found passion for the world of scientific discovery.

I have to admit my favorite part of college lies within all the people I have met. I am without a doubt surrounded by the most amazing people in world that all happen to mean the world to me. They have been there through all too many ridiculous shenanigans, and they have also been there through the times that were a little less pleasant. I also cannot forget about many of those that maybe weren’t there through everything, but still influenced me in some way. Through them and my experiences, I have learned much more about life and myself than I would have never been able to fathom before I left for Madison from the suburbia of Mukwonago, WI.

So, I could go on and on about what I have learned life and about myself in the past few years, but I think that would most likely fill a novel, so to spare you some time, I will reveal only three. I think one of the most important things I have learned, something that has turned into one of my life’s maxims, is that it is essential to laugh through all of your tears. This motto my best friend and I developed together and it is probably the reason we have maintained sanity throughout these past four years. Its acts as a reminder that even when things in your life seem to be taking a nose dive that there are numerous others that are still soaring high that you need to smile about. It reminds us to not dwell excessively on the matter, and in the end, no matter how bad it gets, you will make it through, you will dust yourself off, and you will be okay. Keep your head up, keep that smile on face, and never stop laughing because it’s going to get you through the hard times and it’s just a waste of your time not to.

Secondly, the second lesson, I actually learned from my grandfather, yes I realize he is slightly older than a college age friend, but this man is wisest man I know and I feel this is a worthy lesson to discuss. About a year a half ago, my grandfather was diagnosed with Type 4 lymphoma. After undergoing months of chemo, he was finally allowed to come home as he entered remission. A few months later, he was readmitted back into the hospital, his cancer was back and a brain tumor had developed. Our family was devastated when we received this news, and it was even more difficult to know this man who had been my superhero had broken down and cried in the hospital room when his odds were revealed to him. He showed a mere ounce of being human before he transformed back into the superhero that I recalled. There was no way he was giving up, his hope did not falter, his positive outlook did not dwindle, and his passion for life still burned zealously. And I am lucky enough to say, that after his second treatment, he has gone back into remission and the brain tumor is nowhere in sight. So, what I have learned from my grandpa is to never stop fighting for the goals that you want to accomplish, that you can beat the odds, and to never take a day for granted because you are not sure when it will be the last. Also, did I mention that this man was a war veteran and survived polio…yeah, definitely a superhero.

Thirdly, I have learned a lot from all of you in English 201. You’re thoughts and opinions that you shared during class gave me numerous perspectives and provoked new ways of thinking. My cohort of course, I enjoyed working with all of your immensely and I thank you for all of the laughs and encouragement while working on a potentially stressful project. And Christine, you taught me a crazy amount of rhetoric as I actually had no understanding of any of its concepts before taking your class, your passion for the subject help to make my education a little more well-rounded, not to mention, you brought me to one of my new favorite books that I may not have read otherwise. And lastly, I thank you for giving us the freedom to create. It’s rare that we get the opportunity to do write or work on a project with so few rules, it was a hard concept for me to grasp at first, but then I kind of took it and ran with it, truly enjoying the freedom.

So, as one of my friends taught me in eighth grade, if you do not want to say goodbye, you can always say hasta luego…

Hasta Luego

Hey all,
I have always hated writing these reflections because I find them stupid and cheesy. Somehow everyone expects me to take time out of my day to write about how great my class is, how amazing my classmates were, how much I learned and how much I am going to miss my class. English 201 was one of my favorite classes that I have taken in Madison. My class was an eclectic group that was lead by a very good professor. I did learn a lot and will miss the discussion driven atmosphere.
Now that the sentimental stuff is out of the way, I can use my final few lines to say what is on my mind. Firstly, I was apart of the best cohort in the class. We had the best people, the best work and the most fun. We also found the best place to “study” in the entire Helen C White/College Library area. The place is furbished with a couch, dry, erase board, privacy and is easily accessible that is why we are the best
The second thing on my mind has to deal with my first post. At the time, I posted on Sean Avery and his suspension from the National Hockey League. After much criticism and a six-month hiatus, Sean signed with the New York Rangers. He finished the season with the Rangers and was an integral part of the Rangers turnaround this year.
The third thing that is on my mind has to deal with a few of my sports theories. These theories I hold as central tenets to any teams success in any sport and would like to officially document them. In my view a General manager needs to do three things in order to build a good team. First, he must draft good players and many of them. Look at the teams who played in the N.F.L’s conference championship. The Patriots had four picks in the first hundred overall selections while the Eagles had more than 10 total selections. Every year these teams are criticized by so called experts because they failed to make a big signing in free agency.
These experts forget that drafted players have been thoroughly reviewed by a team’s scout who understands teams system and what the team culture is. They take this knowledge and apply it to incoming athletes. Scouts are professionals and for the most part do a good job of finding the right talent to fit the right situation.
My second postulate is to avoid signing free agents to mammoth contracts. Often, these contracts are bloated and eat up most of the cap space a team has. Look at major Yankee signings over the past few years (this years group is not mentioned because it is too early to pass judgment). Carl Pavano, Jose Contreras, Jason Giambi, Jonny Damon, Steve Karsay, and Kyle Farnsworth, All these players were signed to big deals after producing in a contract season. If a franchise does not believe a player is worth being that teams franchise player than do no sign him to a monstrous deal and make him yours. Odds are they know something you do not. Instead of spending millions on “franchise” players, sign veteran role players who can help your team’s young nucleus grow without killing your cap. The Detroit Tigers did this with Kenny Rodgers, and the New York Rangers with Brendon Shanahan. Sign veteran players to fill a specific need and teach your youngsters.
The third way to build a champion is defense. The Iron Curtain, ’85 Bears, and New England Patriots have built dynasties around having a fearsome defense that can prevent scoring and get the ball for the offense. This theory is also true in Hockey. Last years Stanley cup champions and perennial president trophy candidate Detroit Redwings are the perfect example. Detroit’s lineup is stacked with Norris trophy winner Nick Limstrom and Selke trophy winner Henrik Zetterberg. Detroit’s two best players have won awards for their defensive prowess!! Add in Brad Stuart, Brian Rafalski and Marian Hossa and this team is electric on both sides of the ice. By doing these three things, a general manager can build a playoff team that is a contender every year.
Now that I have my final thoughts on paper I would like to thank everybody for a great semester. Although I have only had two of them, this semester was awesome and I will miss Wisconsin over the summer. I love it here. The sports, academics and parties are great but what makes this place special is the people who inhabit it. I have met the most wonderful people over the past year at the University and cannot wait to meet the many multitudes of others that I do not know about.
On Wisconsin,


Matt

How to recap

It's funny. In my high school, we all got a senior page, where we tried to recap the past four years, or for some of us that went to school since kindergarten, 13 years. And the worst part about it was that they give you a character limitation. Could you imagine if for every citizen, when they are on there death bed, they are given the order to recap their life...in 400 words or less. Stupidity.

But as I did in high school, I will attempt to do it for this class. The fact of the matter is that I hated every single person in this class...just kidding. Truth be told, I thought everyone brought something good to the table. Some were quiet, some were talkative, and some were like Matt. Either way you judge one of the students in this class, they were enjoyable, and helpful. I also thought the class itself was great. I enjoyed all of the books and short pieces we read. I also enjoyed some of the current rhetoric articles we looked at. However, my favorite part of the class turned out to be the first few weeks, where we were basically lectured at. 

I really thought the lecturing point of this class was going to be...well dumb. I didnt see its purpose since their was no final and to be honest, I had no idea what Christine was talking about for the first two class. I mean really. You bring in 20 kids from completely different backgrounds, most of us just taking this class for fun, and tell them about ethos, pathos, and any other greek word you can think of. It isn't the easiest thing to comprehend like learning rocket science. Anyway, I remember sitting down to right my paper on Bruce Springsteen's Jungleland, and like in a movie scene, it all just clicked. I understood how pathos and ethos come in to play in daily life, in song, in just about everything we as humans do. And as it all clicked in my head, I realized that this was the class for me. I am not trying to be dramatic, but it really looked like a well written play when I come to the realization in the very chair that I am in now.

And that is what it all comes down to. The moment of clarity. The sudden realization of why I am learning a new technique, idea, or theory. And like 3 months ago, when I had this moment, I share that same happiness right now. I am happy that I attended all but one class this semester. I learned not only how to bring my writing to the next level, not just how to manipulate words and sentences, and certainly not how to do well on papers. I learned how to take lessons from class and apply them indirectly to my work, both on paper, and in my cohort. Never once, did Courtney, Jake, or Matt say, "Geez Drew, thats some ethos you have there." But through our various discussions, we said claims that declared what one anothers ethos was, and how they portrayed it through their own individual rhetoric. And I am also thank full for this blog. When I started this blog, I use to re-read everything I wrote, as if it was the most important paper ever. But what I realized about this blog is that it is a external internal monologue. It is a place to get all my thoughts down and also a place to enhance my writing. And that is how I feel that I have used this blog.

So in the end, I want to say thank you to everyone in the class, as well as Christine. While I didn't interact with every one of you, you all helped me in one way or another...except for you Matt, you hindered me...once again, just kidding.

"If you fail, I'll kill you"

When I write I don't usually think about any rules in particular, I mostly just think of my high school English teacher Mrs. Schroeder. For my junior and senior years I had the same teacher for my English classes, and I learned a lot from her. On the outside she was your typical nice little old lady. She had worked at the school longer than most other teachers and met her husband there. At my school there were a lot of teachers that did not really care about the students, they were just concerned with getting a pay check. Luckily Mrs. Schroeder was not one of these teachers, she really cared about all of her students and it was very easy to see this after just a couple of her classes.

During my English 11 honors class all she was concerned about was making sure we were prepared for the writing portions on the ACT and SAT exams. It was nice to have a teacher who told us what the class was going to be like and stick to it. At first I hated it because while all other English classes were taking multiple choice exams on books and short stories they had read, my class was writing five paragraph essays for everything in the class. When we first started it was hard having to write this much in a fifty minute class period at the level she wanted us to. During my senior year though I was glad I had her the year before because for my AP English class she spent the entire year getting us ready for the AP exam, which she did in the same way as my junior class.

When I learned the most about writing was not while I was writing or before I wrote something, but after all of our papers had been handed in and graded. Mrs. Schroeder liked to teach us by showing us a couple of really good papers and a couple of not so good papers and asking the class what was good and bad about them. I liked learned like this because we were being shown papers written by others around our own skill level instead of from a book. Doing this helped me personally than any writing rules that I had been shown before in a book because when she asked us to find what was good and bad about the papers, we actually had to apply the rules that we had learned in previous classes.

I mentioned earlier that from the outside she was a typical nice little old lady but once you get to know Mrs. Schroeder you quickly learn that she is...eccentric I guess is the best way to put it. She was always full of energy and had no problem getting really excited in the middle of class telling someone if they were doing something right or wrong in front of everyone. During one of these moments she told the class who had the worst hand writing in class while she was grading papers. She said one of my friends had the worst, and I had the second worst hand writing of the class. Anyone with a normal teacher would probably be embarrassed, but to this day it's something that I'm still strangely proud of. When someone would finally get something they did not understand she could go from being very calm to very excited instantly. This made her class more fun because you could actually see how happy she got that her students were learning.

Once she found out when people were going to start taking the ACT or SAT she started to focus the class mostly on writing instead of what the curriculum was supposed to be. It was the first time that we actually spent some days just talking about proper rules and writing techniques. These were the most boring days of her class, partly because it all just seemed like review and nothing new. Part of me thinks that is why we spent a couple days going over rules, so she could show us that what we would be graded on we already knew. It was a nice little boost of confidence before taking an exam that would get us into college. She showed her eccentric said after we were done going over rules when she said to our entire class "If you fail, I'll kill you." Everyone knew that she was only kidding and everyone just laughed when she yelled this because its hard to picture someone like her ever hurting anything.

I'm glad I had her for two years because to this day she is my favorite teacher and I learned a lot about writing and English in general from her. What I learned from her shows because on did excellent on the writing portions of the ACT and SAT and got a 4 on the AP English exam. So when I sit down to write I do not think of any rules or proper conventions but instead the image of Mrs. Schroeder coming at me if I were to fail.

Hey all,
I just realized I forgot to post about what helps me write effectively. I have always felt that writing is a personal thing in which each person has their own little quirks and suggestions that helps them translate what they have in their mind to what the say on paper.
In order to do that I have always believed a person must understand what situation allows them to be most creative. For me, I need to spend time showering and contemplate what I want to say. After having this mental outline, I then sit down and just write about the topic. I avoid paying attention to the rules, and nuances that are involved in writing. I write and present my argument. After finishing my argument, I then go back and proofread my work. At that point the conventions of English are brought back into play as I tinker with phrases and word choice.
Once I have a piece that I am confident in, I then print it out and read it with a pen. I use my pen to both proofread and edit my work. Often, many mistakes that I have missed are found and corrected. I also, substitute new words and vocabulary that I am seeking to include in my works. After making these corrections, I click save and go on ESPN.Com
I have also found that the setting that somebody writes in is essential to that works success. Some people can sit in front of a television and write an electric essay while others need the quite of a library. I find myself somewhere in the middle. I need noise and activity to be going on around me in order to match my fast paced writing style however, I get distracted very easily and have noticed that 10 min breaks have an ability to last much longer. As a result, I often listen to music and write my paper on Bascom Hill or in my room. This is decided by what time I sit down to write and the weather outside.
That to me is the most important part of writing. Finding a setting that fosters creativity and productivity. I like writing essays but prefer to do them quickly so I can go out later that night. I believe an essay should be written quickly and thoroughly. Over-proofreading and over thinking can lead to disastrous results and undermine what you are trying to say. A person is better off having a well-written sentence then spending hours trying to find the perfect one. No writing is perfect and often that is what makes a piece of writing so exhilarating. I understand that my work will never be perfect and I seek to capture those imperfections.
People are inherently imperfect beings and a writer must understand that. I have always felt that mistakes are what make works interesting, different and revolutionary. The one suggestion I would like to leave you with is the suggestion of truth. Be true to the voice in your head. Writing is relaying YOUR ideas to the public. Do not spend time trying to say what people want to hear rather focus on saying what you are thinking. If a writer can do that than who is to say a work is poorly done?